Blog 11 Ants

My Twitter name is Meagan228
These are all my tweets about the class:


All the numbers are 1 except for the box above the M is 150. This is how it turns out after about 10 min #fysswarmhttp://pic.twitter.com/C3deleaU

Got 129 across, thanks to@BrandonCobbins your plan works really well. #FysswarmHere's how I used ithttp://pic.twitter.com/u4VWClnH

@CassStadnik That's what I'm trying to figure out too, I've been playing with the edge sensor but it doesn't seem to do anything #fysswarm

Here is the set up I used. It's pretty random, but it worked a little #fysswarmhttp://pic.twitter.com/sBmuVdRF

I can get them to start making bridges, but they are too spread out along the river. Any ideas? #fysswarmhttp://pic.twitter.com/KM0BJiew

Haven't made any good discoveries, but it does seem to be less confusing if you use less ants. #fysswarm


I was able to get 129 ants across

Annotated Bibliography

Warschauer, Mark. "Reconceptializing the Digital Divide." First Monday 7.7-1 (2002). First Monday. July 2002. Web. 29 Sept. 2011. <http://firstmonday.org/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/967/888>.

This article describes two specific situations in which social justice projects were done in various cities. It proves my point that access to technology is not enough. In 1997, a contest was held in Ireland in which the winning cities received a great deal of money to use for technological advances. The town that was given the most money splurged on a lot of expensive equipment and spent very little on training for the people. They computerized many systems, but even through every person was given a computer they were not able to use them because they were not educated. Most of the programs fell through and the town had very little to show for their money. The other towns, that were given less money carefully spent it on training and sustaining the system rather than equipment. This program showed much greater success. This article also discuss a program in India were children were given access to a community set of computers, but not shown how to use them. It shows that the children could not use the computers the right way only used them to play games, not for school work. They were forced to learn to use them on their own and only made small discoveries.  

Jenkins, Henry, Ravi Purushotma, Katherine Clinton, Margaret Weigel, and Alice Robison. "Confronting the Challenges of Participatory Culture:Media Education for the 21st Century." New Media Literacies. MacAurthur Foundation. Web. 29 Sept. 2011. <http://www.newmedialiteracies.org/files/working/NMLWhitePaper.pdf>.

This article discusses digital literacy and education. It shows the need for new skills in technology and the use the of internet. The articles really shows the importance of a participatory culture and the benefits it can bring. If people do not have the skills to do get involved they will miss out of the chance to collaborate with many other people. Most of the people mentioned in this article have access to the technology necessary, but do not know how to use it. This demonstrates the importance of education so that people can use all the resources the internet offers. It also talks about the importance of the internet as a creative outlet for people to share ideas and projects they have developed. The internet is not just about learning and school work; it can provide many social and entertainment environments that provide fun while still developing  skills. Some examples are social media sites, art and video cites, and fan fiction and blog sites. These can improve communication, creativity, and literary skills. There is a large section about why computer skills should be taught in schools including preparation to live and work in a global community. There are many benefits to the use the technology and this presents reasons to teach young people.

Edutopia Staff. "Why Integrate Technology into the Curriculum?: The Reasons Are Many."Edutopia. The George Lucas Educational Foundation, 17 Mar. 2008. Web. 27 Oct. 2011. <http://www.edutopia.org/technology-integration-introduction>.

This article stresses the need to use technology in class rooms. Technology skills will help students thrive in the current society, college, and the job market. These skills do not have to be taught in just a certain class because there is a much bigger concept than just software and usage skills. Computers can be used to teach problem solving and enhance learning in all areas. Technology can provide opportunities that students would not have otherwise. Making lessons more interactive and exciting for students is a benefit computers can bring to classes in every subject. This demonstrates that a specific class in technology is not necessary to prepare students for their futures, and gives schools all the more reason to incorporate technology. At the same time, students are learning technological skills that will help them in college and life.

"Benefits." Senior Surf. Senior Surf - Computer Education for Lifelong Learners, 2004-2008. Web. 26 Oct. 2011. <http://www.senior-surf.org/benefits/index.php>.

This article describes the demand and benefits for elderly people to use computers. Senior citizens are the largest growing group of new internet users, but there is still a huge generational gap in usage. This articles shows the numerous benefits for the elderly on the computer such as healthcare, aid in loneliness, increased independence, improvement in cognitive ability, and even depression. However, they must have access and be properly educated to have these benefits.  It stresses the importance of education and I will tie in my knowledge of ways to make technology easier for senior citizens to use. I will relate this article to my grandmother's use of the internet and the new things she has been able to do since getting a computer. 

Swearingen, Joy. "Bridging the Rural Digital Divide; Library Gets Funding to Offer Classes, Buy More Equipment 26." Journal-Pilot Online. 26 Oct. 2011. Web. 27 Oct. 2011. <http://www.journalpilot.com/articles/2011/10/26/news/news1.txt>.

This is a local newspaper from a rural county in Illinois. It shows that the digital divide is very much present in the United States. It will correspond with the other article about the digital divide in other countries. The Carthage public library received a grant to improve their technology. They plan to use it to buy new equipment but also stress the importance of education. They plan to offer many classes and training opportunities.  These include basic computer skills, information about resume making and government job posting sites, and educational sites. It will free, public access and education. This articles shows how current this problem is and that the issue hit close to home.

Weblog 10: Facebook as a Superorganism

A superorganism is not a single organism as the name may imply but it is really a group of many organisms working together. All of the organisms are intelligent and are capable of completing tasks. However, sometimes a task is too big or too challenging for the individual to complete on its own. The task can only be when a group comes together. Now the amazing thing is that each individual may not even realize what they are doing, and everyone does not need to be present to accomplish the goal. A superorganism does not have a leader or strong communication between the parties involved, but the task is still accomplished. Examples a superorganism or swarm  in nature are ants and bee hives, but people use this technique to. Many times this occurs without people even realizing it.

                Facebook is one of the most popular and well-known websites on the internet. People use it to share all kinds of information and to communicate. The users of Facebook are an example of a superorganism. There are two main reasons for this. The first is the use of Facebook is basically a fad; a few years ago no one even knew what it was. As it grew more popular, more and more people started using it. To an individual, Facebook does not seem as large as it truly is. They may only have a specific group of "friends" that they interact with but there are really thousands of similar networks of people. As more people joined, they brought along more friends and the amount of people grew. One person using Facebook for their personal use actually lead to more and more people joining. The second is the rapid spread of information. Each person may post something and then it spreads to many other. Soon more and more people are sending the messages. This huge flow of information is only possible with people all working together. However, if one person did not send something on it would not have an effect on the over message being distributed. 

Blog 9 Emergent Behavior

A strong an example of emergence I have participated in is the drills my high school marching performed during our shows. I was a member of the marching for 6 years. I played the bass drum so I only had the opportunity to move during the show one year. The drummers stood still in my band because it is very difficult to do drills with a bulky drum on your shoulders. We created a center piece for the show to be based around. The band preformed many drills over the years, but we could only truly see what they looked like on video tape. Everyone on the field was assigned fairly small movements on the field at different points in the music. To the individual participating it just looked like people randomly walking around, but to the people in the stands it formed shaped and pictures. On the field, there was no way to tell that a bigger action was happening because of everyone's movements. Our movements were precisely timed and measured. We knew exactly how many steps to take and where to stand. These little movements that everyone made it possible for the big picture to form.

            This is an example of emergence because the small actions of individuals lead to a much bigger action. Everyone only took a few steps or turned around but to someone in the audience it was a much bigger movement. Everyone contributed to the total picture. The individual actions made a much larger impact when joined together with everyone else's. This is how the drills were successful and put on a show for the audience. No one would want to see one person do something, the art is in  everyone working together. It is amazing what can happen when each person does such a little thing. This is what emergence behavior is, everyone does a small part that causes something very large and complex to arise.

Weblog 7-8 China Debate

                Many people in the United States do not realize the kind of freedoms that they enjoy compared to life in many other countries. In China, the citizens do not have nearly the quality of life that the people of the United States have. One big issue is freedom of information and ability to speak out about issues. There are very strict rules and censorship of the internet in China. "The Great Firewall" as it is known blocks many websites and information from people's access. Most sites about government information and many communication sites are unable to be accessed by Chinese people. This is a form of social injustice forced by the government. The people are working very hard to find a way around these barriers, but have not had much success.

            Many large, American companies such as Cisco, Microsoft, Google, and Yahoo have expanded to China. However, the government places restrictions on the use of the systems. In 2002, Cisco approved a sale of $100,000 worth of routers and internet equipment to the Chinese government. It was later released that this equipment was used to build the "The Golden Shield" by the Chinese government. This blocked millions of people's access to the internet. This is probably why Cisco tried to cover up it and only debated this sale internally with their officials. The other companies also have done business in China for similar purposes. Google and Yahoo allow the government to limit what websites and searches are allowed by their engines. Google, especially put up a huge fight to work with the government and help the people access information. However their efforts were not able to stop censorship.

            The United States government is not happy that their companies are contributing to social injustice in other countries. The government is not the only one, as  Arvind Ganesan, a director at the nonprofit Human Rights Watch said "If you know ahead of time that a sale could lead to human rights violations, and there’s no way of mitigating that, maybe you shouldn’t offer it to that entity,". The government realized this state of distress by it's members and the citizen's of the United States and called a conference to discuss the issue. The companies defended themselves. I believe that companies have every right to sell their products to people all over the world. Though I do not feel it is ethically right for them to sell them if they know the products will be used to limit human rights, I do not feel it is the government's place to tell them that they cannot. Companies such as Google, Yahoo, Microsoft and Cisco are privately owned companies. They are not ran by or affiliated with the government in anyway. This should mean that they are free to operate their business with the out the government telling them what to do. The capability of a product to be used for censorship should not limit its ability to be sold.

            Many people do not feel this way and think that the United States has an obligation to protect people's rights all over the world. The United States could place restrictions to help the people of China by helping to block resources to the Chinese government. This can be viewed similarly to other plans the United States have used in the past to bring freedoms to people. As an American company, companies should be forced to follow the values of the country. They should be expected to be against social injustices and definitely not help the governments create it. Many people in China are fighting to find a way to have freedom on the internet, and the United States should not be making it harder for them.

            Chinese people have made many strides to help bypass the "Great Firewall" and gain freedoms on the internet. But are their efforts enough? The Chinese government is huge and very powerful. "The Great Firewall" is very detailed and complicated. Hacking it would be very difficult if not impossible. Even when people find ways around the restrictions the government finds a way to shut them down. "The idea is that coders elsewhere get to Twitter, and offer up feeds at their own URLs—which the government has to chase down one by one." says Jonathan Zittrain, co-director of Harvard's Berkman Center for Internet and Society. People will never be completely successful because the government will always find them. The government is using many high-tech methods to block the micro blogs that people are using to try to access information. These include IP filtering, DNS blocking and redirecting, URL filtering, and packet filtering, and connect resetting. This is too much for people to bypass without something being done to limit the government's actions. Even though they have had some success with their blogs and some successful protests no real change has been made. The battle for protesters is so difficult because the government has truly stepped up the censorship. They are working to build a massive system with an comprehensive surveillance network. This would be equipped with the latest technology monitoring people in every way possible. How can a group of activists compete with that? As much as I would like to believe the people can win this fight it's just too big. Even a huge company like Google was not able to win the battle against censorship, The people will need a partner, probably another country, to come in and help them.

            People are finding some success such as the use of UltraSurf and other programs as different way to access the internet without censorship. They can also use the readily available proxies and virtual private networks. People have found success by posting their stories and grievances.  For example in 2003 when the story of Sun Zhigang's death was told online the uproar led to the law causing it to be overturned. The "underground" internet blogs are slowly becoming the most popular way for people to get true information about what is going on in their world. In these ways it is helping to increase the freedoms of the Chinese people, but the government is always looking and watching. Many websites are being shut down and blocked every day.

Sources

http://tech.fortune.cnn.com/2011/04/15/googles-ordeal-in-china/

http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2008/05/leaked-cisco-do/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Firewall_of_China#Protest_in_China

http://www.nieman.harvard.edu/reports/article/100852/The-Rising-Tide-of-Internet-Opinion-in-China.aspx